Big British Gas quote to replace heating system...

southcoastrgi

Lgas wrote: »

Based on what? People don't tend to write threads about good experiences, only bad, and that's why BG get bad press :mad: BG are a MASSIVE company with thousands of engineers, that's an unfair statement to make.

based on my own personal experience with some of their so called engineers, yes they are a massive co but the amount of customers that either complain on here or watchdog or call me in after one of their engineers has condemded their boiler because "parts are no longer availible" when i have gone down to the local merchant & found the parts readily availible on the shelf, if you have an older boiler all they are interested in is selling you a new own branded boiler (normally a glowworm) at vastly overley expensive prices.

BG engineer are we ?? hit a nerve did I ??

I stand by what i say, do not use BG a local RGI that has been recommended will give you a much better price & better service.

justjohn

Lgas wrote: »

Based on what? People don't tend to write threads about good experiences, only bad, and that's why BG get bad press :mad: BG are a MASSIVE company with thousands of engineers, that's an unfair statement to make.

yes but i have never ever heard of a BG quote that was competative....EVER

justjohn

i do not know your setup, However if there are old rads they will be junked.

And what sort of monster boiler you paying 3.5k for. Most boilers are 800-1.5k.

You dont say the size of house or how old the current system is.

Rule of thumb BG are double the price of local installers. Some local installers are also expensive.

As an example Boiler swap outs are the biggest con. Many local installers just double the price of the cost of boiler to get the install price.

So forget BG
Get some BALL PARK figures from installers on here.
Then get some local installers in for quotes. You may reduce your efficiency of the boiler by updating rather than renewing.

Get as many quotes as you can there are lotsa sharks out there.....

True_Blues

Thanks for all the replies so far. I now have the quote from the independent (who was recommended by a neighbour who I trust). I’ve put a summary below of the main details. For reference the house is a 5 bed, it was a 4 bed that was extended which is when I suspect that this crappy 2 system set up was implemented.
Both boilers are going, to be replaced by 1 system with the boiler to be relocated into the loft, the 2 systems will need to be joined up so that they can run from a single boiler, we are also considering replacing the hot water tank (again the 2 guys that came out had different ideas about).
There is a lot of common points between the quotes (e.g. power flush, control system etc...), below I have tried to summarise the main points / differences.
BG Summary:

• British / Scottish Gas Worcester Greenstar 24Ri High Efficiency Boiler.
• 28mm magnetic system
• 2 years home care (not a big deal, but a consideration)
• Gledhill 162 litre HW cylinder
• Install new TRVs

Total cost for all work £8276.

Independent summary:

• Convert central heating system from open vented, gravity fed to sealed
• system with expansion vessel (integral to boiler) and mains fed filling
• loop.
• Supply and install Vaillant Ecotec Plus 624 system boiler in loft. (or Vaillant Ecotec Plus 630 for extra £120)
• Magnaclean magnetic filter
• Supply and install Santon 250ltr unvented cylinder

Approx breakdown is £4k for the boiler, power flush and new TRVs. Ballpark figure of £1580 for the HW

The independent did say it would be about £800 for a standard replacement HW tank, therefore 2 rough comparison is approx £8k for BG or £4.8k for the independent.

I knew that this would not be cheap or as easy as simply replacing a boiler, as we have the 2 systems to combine. The independent is in the ball park that I was expecting – I had in mind £2.5k for a new boiler, £1k for a new tank & £1k for labour.
I am thinking of going with the independent (as he was recommended and is far more realistic than BG). I will follow up to see what type of breakdown cover he can provide.
I am a novice when it comes to boilers & heating systems:embarasse. Your thoughts have been very much appreciated and helpful. Any further thoughts now that you a more detailed breakdown of the quotes?

Canucklehead

True_Blues wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies so far. I now have the quote from the independent (who was recommended by a neighbour who I trust). I’ve put a summary below of the main details. For reference the house is a 5 bed, it was a 4 bed that was extended which is when I suspect that this crappy 2 system set up was implemented.
Both boilers are going, to be replaced by 1 system with the boiler to be relocated into the loft, the 2 systems will need to be joined up so that they can run from a single boiler, we are also considering replacing the hot water tank (again the 2 guys that came out had different ideas about).
There is a lot of common points between the quotes (e.g. power flush, control system etc...), below I have tried to summarise the main points / differences.
BG Summary:

• British / Scottish Gas Worcester Greenstar 24Ri High Efficiency Boiler.
• 28mm magnetic system
• 2 years home care (not a big deal, but a consideration)
• Gledhill 162 litre HW cylinder
• Install new TRVs

Total cost for all work £8276.

Independent summary:

• Convert central heating system from open vented, gravity fed to sealed
• system with expansion vessel (integral to boiler) and mains fed filling
• loop.
• Supply and install Vaillant Ecotec Plus 624 system boiler in loft. (or Vaillant Ecotec Plus 630 for extra £120)
• Magnaclean magnetic filter
• Supply and install Santon 250ltr unvented cylinder

Approx breakdown is £4k for the boiler, power flush and new TRVs. Ballpark figure of £1580 for the HW

The independent did say it would be about £800 for a standard replacement HW tank, therefore 2 rough comparison is approx £8k for BG or £4.8k for the independent.

I knew that this would not be cheap or as easy as simply replacing a boiler, as we have the 2 systems to combine. The independent is in the ball park that I was expecting – I had in mind £2.5k for a new boiler, £1k for a new tank & £1k for labour.
I am thinking of going with the independent (as he was recommended and is far more realistic than BG). I will follow up to see what type of breakdown cover he can provide.
I am a novice when it comes to boilers & heating systems:embarasse. Your thoughts have been very much appreciated and helpful. Any further thoughts now that you a more detailed breakdown of the quotes?

Hi: a good quote from your indie
....we wouldn't recommend a Gledhill and would use a Magnabooster2 rather than a Magnaclean as well as the Vaillant....a labour and material intensive job. If you get the 5 year warranty that a Vaillant trained RGI can offer all the better.

Let us know how you get on.

True_Blues

Thanks Canuckleheadfor another swift response. I will have a google look for the differences between Magnabooster2 and Magnaclean.

The heating system is my main priority, but would appreciate your thoughts on the HW tank. The indie was proposing an unvented system, but the BG didn't think that we had enough mains pressure, he claimed it was because we are at the end of a close and tested with a simple tube where you turn the tap on full power to see what level it comes out. Not sure if this is just a simple sales trick or if we genuinely do not have enough pressure.

Thanks again for your help & support

Canucklehead

True_Blues wrote: »

Thanks Canuckleheadfor another swift response. I will have a google look for the differences between Magnabooster2 and Magnaclean.

The heating system is my main priority, but would appreciate your thoughts on the HW tank. The indie was proposing an unvented system, but the BG didn't think that we had enough mains pressure, he claimed it was because we are at the end of a close and tested with a simple tube where you turn the tap on full power to see what level it comes out. Not sure if this is just a simple sales trick or if we genuinely do not have enough pressure.

Thanks again for your help & support

Hi: if a pressurised system is being specified then mains pressure should be tested using a pressure gauge and flow with a weir gauge. If BG is quoting for a vented cylinder then that makes their quote more OTT. Did either tell you what the respective rates are?

Get a third opinion before you proceed.

HTH

Lgas

keithgillyon wrote: »

based on my own personal experience with some of their so called engineers, yes they are a massive co but the amount of customers that either complain on here or watchdog or call me in after one of their engineers has condemded their boiler because "parts are no longer availible" when i have gone down to the local merchant & found the parts readily availible on the shelf, if you have an older boiler all they are interested in is selling you a new own branded boiler (normally a glowworm) at vastly overley expensive prices.

BG engineer are we ?? hit a nerve did I ??

I stand by what i say, do not use BG a local RGI that has been recommended will give you a much better price & better service.

I don't know about the rest of the country but in my area the procedure is to call parts, who then check BG stock and local stock, and then call the manager to ensure that there is no other option for the customer than replacement. I personally call the manufacturer too to check if they still make the part. I've cut off 2 boilers, same make and model, and that was because the part was a mercury vapour safety device. Not surprisingly, no longer produced. What i'm saying is that we're not all the same, and claiming that most BG engineers are "less than useless at servicing or repair" is quite a blanket statement to make.

As far as quotes go, nothing to do with me! Service and repair engineers have nothing to do with quoting for new boilers or installation.

kkennedy

im in the same situation as you our old cottage has two boliers and two different heating systems one electric and the other LPG gas and cost a fortune trying to run both we are also about to get quotos in getting the whole system replaced and running as one, so will be watching your topic to try and find some hints on the best way to go,

True_Blues

Update – The independent has been back to go through a few queries and we’ve decided to go with him. The Valliant comes with a 5 year parts and labour, the inde said to contact him first if there is a problem so that he can check if it is something he has done or if we need to go back to Valliant (hopefully there will not be any issues anyway), the boiler needs to have an annual service for the guarantee – no problem as we would have it serviced anyway.

I did check about the Mangaclean leaking – he said that he only had a few issues with them a long time back, but no issues with the newer models.

The only decision we have left relates to the HW cylinder. There are 2 options:

1050x450 stainless steel vented cylinder - £600
1200x450 copper cylinder - £800

The bigger cylinder holds approx 24l extra. We are a family of 4 in a 5 bed house and have occasional visitors to stay. Any thoughts on the options above???